SMS Kronprinz (1867)

Illustration of Kronprinz in 1868
Class overview
Operators	Prussian Navy  Imperial German Navy
Preceded by	Friedrich Carl
Succeeded by	König Wilhelm
History
Prussia, later German Empire
Name	Kronprinz
Builder	Samuda Brothers, London
Laid down	February 1866
Launched	6 May 1867
Commissioned	19 September 1867
Fate	Scrapped in 1921
General characteristics
Type	Armored frigate
Displacement	Design: 5,767 t (5,676 long tons) Full load: 6,760 t (6,650 long tons)
Length	89.44 m (293 ft 5 in)
Beam	15.20 m (49 ft 10 in)
Draft	7.85 m (25 ft 9 in)
Installed power	8 × boilers 4,500 PS (4,400 ihp)
Propulsion	1 × single-expansion steam engine 1 × screw propeller
Sail plan	Barque-rigged
Speed	13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph)
Range	3,200 nmi (5,900 km; 3,700 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	33 officers 508 enlisted
Armament	2 × 21 cm (8.3 in) L/22 guns 14 × 21 cm (8.3 in) L/19 guns
Armor	Belt: 76 to 124 mm (3.0 to 4.9 in)

SMS Kronprinz ^[a] was a unique German ironclad warship built for the Prussian Navy in 1866–1867. Kronprinz was laid down in 1866 at the Samuda Brothers shipyard at Cubitt Town in London. She was launched in May 1867 and commissioned into the Prussian Navy that September. The ship was the fourth ironclad ordered by the Prussian Navy, after Arminius, Prinz Adalbert, and Friedrich Carl, though she entered service before Friedrich Carl. Kronprinz was built as an armored frigate, armed with a main battery of sixteen 21 cm (8.3 in) guns; several smaller guns were added later in her career.

Kronprinz saw limited duty during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. Engine troubles aboard the ship, along with the two other armored frigates in her squadron, prevented operations against the French blockade. Only two sorties in which Kronprinz participated were conducted, both of which did not result in combat. The ship served in the subsequent Imperial Navy until she was converted into a training ship for boiler room personnel in 1901. The ship was ultimately broken up for scrap in 1921.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).